Jacksonville, Fla.-based Southeastern Grocers plans to phase out its Bi-Lo banner, opting to focus on growing its Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie banners.
In keeping with that decision, SEG has agreed to sell 46 Bi-Lo stores and 16 Harveys Supermarket locations to Salisbury, N.C.-based Food Lion, according to a news release. Those stores will be operated under the Food Lion banner once the transaction is complete.
Once the sale of those stores to Food Lion is finalized, SEG will still have 61 locations of Bi-Lo. The company is “actively exploring strategic options for the remaining Bi-Lo stores, including other potential transactions,” according to an SEG spokesperson. In the meantime, the stores will continue to operate under the Bi-Lo banner.
SEG will have 30 Harveys Supermarket locations remaining after the close of the Food Lion deal, and the company is exploring strategic options for two of those stores.
By April 2021, the company expects to be operating roughly 425 stores across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi under the Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie banners, according to the spokesperson. Back in May 2018, in the wake of SEG completing its restructuring, the company listed its store count at upwards of 575.
SEG also announced June 3 that, along with selling 62 stores to Food Lion, it plans to divest the assets of 57 in-store pharmacies it operates to CVS and Walgreens.
“The successful execution of our long-term transformation strategy may at times require difficult decisions,” SEG president and CEO Anthony Hucker said in the news release. “Today’s transactions are a critical strategic move and an important next step for our continued growth and broader evolution as a business. These actions will facilitate greater investment in our remaining footprint so we can continue to provide an exceptional shopping experience our customers can always count on.”
Other recent moves by the company include the opening of a new store this year and the acquisition of eight locations from Lucky’s Market and Earth Fare. Also, the company continues to update stores, with 40% of them having been refreshed in the last three years, according to the release.
